Gods of the Old Realms
by sleepy hippo
Summary: Canada sets out from his bleak kingdom to face an old love and a failed romance at his brothers urging. Russia's madness threatens to cast a shadow over the world and America has lost hope in his future. Canada/Russia one sided Canada/America. One-shot.


This has been in my completed folder for months, I just completely overlooked it. It was just a one-shot I wrote when I was testing out a concept but I think it will stay as a one-shot.

DISCLAIMER - I do not own Hetalia

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><p>Matthew felt a presence by his side as he looked out over his frozen kingdom. He knew without turning who stood behind him but it was rare for him to visit. He didn't bother wasting energy with greetings, the other would speak soon enough, no one ever came here unless they needed something; they preferred to turn a blind eye to his existence. <em>Well,<em> he thought bitterly, _I can't exactly blame them. I would deny my own existence if I could._

"Matthew," The voice tentatively broke the silence._ And so I was right, it _is_ him._ "He is causing problems. Again. You must reconsider your stance, he needs restraining." Matthew found he had nothing to say to this and the speaker seemed to sense this without seeing his impassive face. "He is actively meddling, it is against the rules!"

"No it is against _your_ rules." _Direct meddling or treating people like pieces on a chessboard, I wonder which is the greater evil? A choice between the grinning face of a familiar menace and a sword in the dark, how very ironic._ His brother stepped in front of him, cutting off the flow of his thoughts. He radiated light but there was nothing of warmth in it. Golden hair, tanned complexion, tall and broad shouldered; he certainly looked the part. His blue eyes expressed his annoyance but there was something else there as well, ignored yet persistent. _Fear. _"You have a duty to me, we are family and I am asking you as a brother to rein him in. You know he'll listen to no one else. Your lack of involvement just makes him bolder."

"I am separate am I not? This is not my problem and I refuse to be used as some kind of scare tactic. What you ultimately want I can't give, it would break me and it would be selfish of you."

How had it come to this? How he wished he could return to the days when he was just plain, ignored Canada. He would rather people accidentally forgot about his existence than purposefully did so. England had to meddle though, had to go and meddle in someone else's home. A place of old gods. He hadn't exactly woken them up; his ritual had gone awry and transformed them into God like beings. They still personified their countries but now came the added burden of personifying various concepts. It made for a busy life or in Matthew's case busy _deaths. _Arthur was working on a method of reversing this unfortunate state of affairs but it was taking its time. A decade later and still no discernable progress. They could all do with a break, the pressure bowed them all. Alfred once so optimistic and cheerful was slowly becoming less and less hopeful and Russia already unstable to being with was taking to his new role with twisted delight. _Me? Well I just spend most of my time in the underworld with a group of dead people._ Where Alfred, the personification of Light (a heroes role he had said at the time) was broad and tanned, Matthew was tall and somewhat gangly. His skin was sickeningly pale, his once violet eyes looked dull and grey and his hair was a pale blond instead of the gold it had used to be.

"Look Mattie," Alfred sighed, "I know this is hard and I wouldn't ask you to go that far but please just have a word with him before he throws the world into chaos." Alfred lifted his hand to place it on Matthew's shoulder, "You know you can come and visit, there is no need for you to always be here. I can see you're suffering." Matthew snorted.

"Yeah? Well we're all suffering. I can't just wonder around like I used to though because people don't want me to. I make you all uncomfortable."

"That's not tru-" Matthew held up a hand.

"Of course it is. I'll talk to him but I am not going to threaten anyone." Alfred embraced him, ruffling his hair.

"Thank you Mattie. Please come and stay with me, you look like you need a break from this." Matthew nodded but didn't bother to reply.

"Bye Mattie."

"Bye." And once more he was alone.

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><p>He found him in the dark standing in amongst the shadows of his doorway. He really didn't want to see him again. There had been a time when it had been a comfort that not every country was now afraid of him but that had soon turned sour; it always did when Ivan was involved. He quietly made his way into the shadows to stand beside him. A few minutes passed before the other noticed a presence, he turned his head slightly and looked genuinely shocked to see Matthew there.<p>

"Ah, Matvey, it has been a while, da? You do not look well."

"I have been hearing disconcerting things." Matthew did not want to spend any longer than necessary in the others presence.

"You have?" Ivan's eyes turned to slits as he smiled.

"Yeah I have. Just whatever it is you're doing could you please stop it." Matthew could hear the beginnings of that laugh underneath Ivan's breath.

"Why Matvey I think it will take more convincing than that." It was Matthew's turn to look shocked; he turned to face Ivan fully for the first time in over a year.

"All of this," he waved his hands dismissively, "was because I refused to see you?

"Da." Ivan replied, unperturbed. _I really am so close to killing him, and it has taken him less than five minutes. A new record._ "Matvey, why won't you let me enter your realm?" Matthew held back a flinch.

"Because I can. Look, just behave, okay? And don't bother trying anything like this again, I'll not be coming next time." Ivan chuckled, his hand suddenly gripping Matthews arm.

"Nyet. I am not letting you go that easily." He tried to pull Matthew towards him but suddenly found his grip empty. He shook his head. "Ah it has been too long, I had forgotten about that. I know you are still there, let me talk to you." Matthew faded back into the foreground, glaring at Ivan.

"You had no right." Was all he said.

"How else will I get you to talk to me?"

"You won't." Ivan cocked his head to the side.

"Da, I will." _I never should have agreed to this._

"Will you stop?" He asked breaking the momentary silence.

"Nyet."

"Why not?" Ivan studied him, face impassive, a small smile graced his lips.

"I don't think Matvey needs to ask that question. Why did you leave me?" Matthew did flinch this time.

"I don't think _Ivan_ needs to ask that question." A slight nod.

"Why did you come back now?" _Yeah, good question, wish I had an answer._

"Alfred asked," He shrugged, "You needed checking." Ivan's smile turned into a sneer of distain at the mention of Alfred's name. _They are forever in opposition._

"I'll not stop, I will keep going until darkness covers every nation, I will flood your realm until you let me in." Ivan's face was dark with rage, his smile twisted and mad, eyes glinting in the darkness.

"You know I won't let that happen."

"You can't stop me Matvey."

"You know I can." _I can._

"Nyet, you cannot" Ivan's words were once again soft and his smile was genuine.

Matthew stepped out of the shadows and without a parting remark walked away. He could feel Ivan's eyes and his grin.

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><p>"I hate you." Matthew muttered at his gently smiling brother who stood at his doorway, light flooding out into the surroundings.<p>

"Come in Mattie, you'll stay the night, right?" Matthew didn't answer him but stepped into the hallway all the same. "You should never have forced me." Alfred quirked a brow at him.

"I didn't force you, I asked you." Matthew had to admit the truth of this but only to himself.

"There's no difference." Alfred shook his head sadly.

"There is a great difference. Some part of you wanted to go and it pained me to see that. I would rather you had kept to your refusal." Matthew sat down in Alfred's living room, frowning at his brother. _So it was some kind of test was it, was that the cause of the fear I detected in your eyes?_

"I thought you were scared of me." Alfred let out a chuckle, stretching out beside him - he gave a little pull on Matthew's hair that refused to settle causing him to flinch.

"I could never be scared of you. You have a job to do, nothing more, so stop pushing me away." His hand rose again tucking Matthew's hair behind an ear. "You need a haircut, you look a little like Francis, it suits you better shorter." Matthew resisted the urge to push Alfred's hand away. He felt it gliding down a cheek, then down his neck and along his shoulder, down his arm before clutching his own hand. "You need to spend some time here Mattie, you are so thin and you need some sunlight. I'll not take no for an answer." He pulled on the hand causing Matthew to fall forward onto him. He felt Alfred's lips on his own, kissing him gently. Alfred broke the kiss and embraced him like he had earlier, sighing into his hair. "You can't go back to him, you know he's unhinged."

"You shouldn't have _let_ me go to him then."

"You wanted to go." He felt Alfred's head rest on his shoulder.

"No. I thought you needed me to go." Alfred placed a hand on his cheek.

"Don't lie to me Mattie."

"I don't know if I am. I don't know why I agreed to go and I know even less why I came here." He felt Alfred's hand clench against his cheek.

"I do not want you to say that. You love me, and I love you. That's why you came."

"You are just different sides of the same coin," Matthew muttered angrily, "Ivan, at least, is honest, you try to pretend its something other than what it is." He felt himself fall off the couch and to the floor as the force of the blow struck his cheek.

"You are so unfair Matthew, so unfair! You can't compare us, we are nothing alike. Light and Darkness we stand opposed to each other, always opposed."

"What is one without the other Alfred? I shouldn't have come." Alfred let out a derisive snort.

"I bet you said that to him too, brother." He spat the title, venom in his voice. "And what about when Arthur sorts this out, when you are back to being poor ignored Canada, will he still notice you? Of course he won't. I was the only one who ever did."

"Yes you were the only one but you never helped others to see me. Not once."

"Matthew!" _He's angry, it serves him right._

"I thought it but I never told him. Bye Alfred." And without turning to look at his brother Matthew left his house trying to forget the strangled sobs that accompanied his parting.

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><p>He felt Ivan following behind as he approached home. It was his real home, not the other place he had been spending most of his time. It did not take long for the larger male to catch up with him. For a while Ivan was uncharacteristically silent.<p>

"I have a surprise for you."

"Yeah?" Matthew asked, sick of fighting.

"Da. Matvey will like my surprise." Again silence. Matthew studied Ivan out of the corner of his eyes. He didn't look great either, his skin always had been pale but it had a bleached quality about it now and his large frame, usually solid, looked more fragile than usual. His long coat was loose and worst of all his face looked slightly gaunt instead of full.

"I know Matvey is scared that he'll have to deal with me. I wouldn't do that. I just want to see you happy."

"What if that means seeing me happy with Alfred?" Ivan's eyes flickered closed, contented smile vanishing from his face.

"I know that's not what you want. You want to be with me, you did before he took you away. I know you wanted to stay."

"He didn't take me away, I left." Ivan snatched his hand, bringing it to his cold lips.

"Da, you left me." He kept a hold of Matthew's hand.

"I'll not let either of you tear me apart and you know you will."

"Nyet. I would never do that and I certainly don't think Alfred would, as much as it pains me to admit such a thing."

"I don't know what to do." Matthew admitted quietly, he could feel Ivan's thumb start to rub circles against his hand.

"You do, you are only scared to admit it." Matthew shivered slightly, Ivan pulled him closer. It didn't help. The cold barely reached him now, he was just…lost. _If Ivan breaks under the pressure I would have to be the one to stop him…I'd have to kill him._ "Matvey, without you it is more likely." _I hate how he can read me so easily._ They where approaching his house.

"Thank you Ivan but I really need to-" Ivan tightened his grip as Matthew tried to slip his hand away from the others. Ivan shook his head, smiling.

"I have a surprise." Matthew inclined his head and let himself be lead towards the house. Entering behind Ivan he switched the light on and was surprised to see how clean the place was. Ivan's unoccupied hand shot up and flicked the switch back off plunging the house into darkness once more. _I should have guessed. _It didn't take long for his vision to adjust to the gloom of the house. He was used to inhabiting a place with no sun, he could sympathise with Ivan's intolerance. He was curious when Ivan kept going until he was exiting the house again through the back door, striding purposefully towards the dark woods. "Eh, Ivan, where are we going?" Ivan squeezed his hand reassuringly

"Not far." Ivan stopped at the edge of the trees, listening to the silence around them, a silence only broken by the calls of various creatures and the rustling of wind stirring the trees. It really _wasn't_ silent here at all. Not like it could be in that other place. Ivan shouted something he didn't make out, occupied as he was with his musings, into the dark. Out of the shadows a large shape seemed to be emerging. It looked light in colour and bulky in frame but the murky woods prevented him from making out any details. The shape continued to move forward, eventually stopping just on the edge of sight. It seemed to move its head "Who are you?" A familiar voice carried to where he stood.

"I'm Canada." He answered automatically before laughing, wrenching free of Ivan's grip, and running into the darkness. He threw his arms around the neck of the much grown bear, burying his face in her soft white fur. "Kuma! I've really missed you."

"Yeah." The bear replied, lifting up a heavy paw to set it on her friend's back. "Suppose I missed you, when I remembered to." Matthew scratched behind Kuma's ears.

"Ah you'll never change Kuma." The bear let out a snort that sounded more like a sneeze.

"I think I did."

"I suppose you did right enough." Matthew conceded, "I'm sorry I had to leave you here, you wouldn't have liked it in the other place it was not the kind of place for a healthy animal to be."

"I can see that." Kuma replied sardonically, nudging Matthew with her large head.

"I left Alfred instructions for looking after you and making sure you had plenty of food. He never mentioned how big you got." Kuma chuckled though it lacked humour.

"He wouldn't know."

"What do you mean?" Matthew asked, eyebrows drawing down into a frown.

"Well he forgot about me." Matthew grabbed two handfuls of Kuma's fur and once more buried his face in her coat.

"I am so sorry Kuma, I trusted him to look after you, what did you do?"

"That one looked after me." She replied, waving her clawed paw in Ivan's direction. Matthew was surprised that he had not followed him into the wood. _He's letting me have time with Kuma. He really has changed._ "Talk to him, Canada - come home." Kuma patted his head with her large paw before turning and retreating into the dark undercover. Matthew sighed, he had spent over a year trying to avoid this kind of situation. He heard Ivan approach and felt strong arms wrap around him from behind. Ivan rested his chin on Matthew's head. "You…are different."

"I am missing you."

"You looked after Kuma for me. That's not like you."

"Da, I've changed. Kuma needed looking after and you needed her to be looked after." Matthew placed his hands on top of Ivan's.

"What about this trouble? If I go now would you really plunge the world into darkness, you seemed sure of yourself earlier." He could feel Ivan shift behind him.

"I just wanted you back, I…shouldn't have said that. You…help me; my mind feels calm when you are with me. You have been gone too long, without you my mind is…slipping." Matthew could feel the vibration of his words against the top of his head.

"Okay…we can talk. Come on." Matthew disentangled himself from the others embrace, taking his hand and walking back towards the back of his house. When they entered the kitchen Matthew reached for the light switch and Ivan's hand stopped him. "Let me put it on?" It was a question. Ivan reluctantly lowered his hand letting Matthew flick on the switch. He cringed slightly at the light as if trying to retreat into his shadow.

"Matvey," He whispered, "You know I can't lie when I am weakened." Matthew nodded his understanding. "I want you to come home. I will not push you this time, I trust you." His purple eyes shone in the light, more alive than Matthew had yet seen them.

"What if Arthur figures out how to reverse this?" Ivan took his face between his hands.

"Ah Matvey it will not matter. I will never forget you."

"Yes but I will not be in the same position of power, will you take advantage of that?" Ivan lowered his head, kissing him on the tip of the nose before resting his forehead against Matthew's.

"You have had power over me these last ten years and you have never used it against me, not once, not even when it would have been deserved. Now you hold a different kind of power and even if we go back to just Canada and Russia you will still hold that power over me. Do you understand me Matvey?" Matthew nodded his head. Ivan whispered in his ear, "I love you." He kissed him on the cheek before pulling back and studying his face. _He always likes to stare and when he does there is such a childlike wonder it almost makes me want to cry._

"I-" Ivan silenced him by kissing him, cutting off his own confession. It was soft and tender, not at all like Ivan's usual kisses - he was not pushing him for more. Matthew knew this wouldn't last long and he didn't exactly want it to but it was comforting all the same. Ivan broke the kiss first, staring down at him again, "There is plenty of time for you to be sure." He reached down to lift Matthew up but Matthew stopped him.

"No. I can walk."

"For now." Ivan agreed, his smile mischievous. He held out his hand and Matthew grasped it, following him upstairs, feeling anticipatory for the first time in over a year.

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><p>Reviews greatly appreciated<p> 


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